The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

"All honor to you, Mary!
Today

raised above the angels! "




August 15 - Assumption of the B.V.M.


We know nothing of how the Virgin's earthly life ended but the event has been celebrated in different ways from the early days of the Church and originally it had such names as Dormitio (= falling asleep), Natale (= birthday) or Transitio (= passing). In the middle of the fifth century the Feast appears in the liturgical books of that period and it persisted up to 1950 when it was honored with a dogmatic definition by Pope Pius XII.(I vividly recall actually listening with the other seminarians on the radio in Alba while the Holy Father spoke).


The First Reading is not actually talking about Our Lady - and indeed the references to a woman in childbirth are not exactly what we think of when we speak about this Feast. The quotation from the Book of Revelation by John the Evangelist referred originally to the Woman, the bride of God who brings forth the Messiah and this is the true Israel, the Chosen People from whom the Lord was born.. In this sense, therefore, there is a connection because the Lord was also born of Mary.


The is somewhat on the same lines but more understandable: the quasi-infinite merits and spiritual beauty of Mary assumed into heaven are seen as being totally pleasing to God.


The Second Reading is easier to understand but it refers to Christ, not Our Lady, though of course she is the reason we have him. And so she has had an indispensable role in the great story of Redemption when all of us will "be brought to life in Christ." St. Paul specifies: " Christ as the first fruits and then after the coming of Christ, all those who belong to him." Clearly, Mary will take the lead in that great procession of men and women who have lived well on earth and now, after the Resurrection, will live forever in eternity (probably,in my understanding, on the earth we have today but of course in vastly different conditions which we cannot even guess).


The Gospel is, the well-known one, highlighting the joy and exultation of a young Nazareth teenager who has heard the most stunning announcement ever made to human being but who has reacted with remarkable maturity, clear sign of her special privilege of immunity form all defects. It is not difficult to understand that this extraordinary young lady, after living perfectly an ordinary mother's life which then ended in a grim tragedy as she had to stand by her crucified Son, was supremely worthy of being assumed into heaven.


~August 2011 Concord